THE money was agreed by South Lanarkshire Council, after a nine-year legal battle against 3000 of their own female staff who were in some cases getting paid just half what their male co-workers were getting.

But the joy last night was tinged with sadness – as 18 of the women died while the council dragged their heels and refused to settle.

The exact figure to be paid to each woman will be finalised soon.

But if the full £75million was shared equally between the 3000 women, the payout would be £25,000 each.

It’s believed the women who suffered the worst discrimination will receive as much as £100,000 each.

South Lanarkshire are the last council in Scotland to pay up in a long running series of equal pay cases.

Bosses tried to keep the settlement figure secret – but it was leaked to our sister paper the Hamilton Advertiser by council sources furious at the attempt to keep it quiet.

The council have just agreed £13million of cuts with another £38million to come but a spokesman insisted the payout would come from their reserves and would have no impact on services.

One senior council source told the Advertiser: “It was discussed at the meeting that the settlement could be up to £75million.”

Fox, who fought the women’s case, said: “This has been a complex and long-running case but we are delighted that we have been able to secure a settlement that we can recommend to our clients.

“It has taken a considerable amount of time and legal work to progress a mass settlement for more than 3000 individual claimants.

“We will be contacting them all in due course to outline what the settlement means to them and we ask them for their continued patience and co-operation as we do that in the coming months.”

The Record reported in August 2012 how the council had squandered £1million of public money in their futile legal battle against the women.

At the time, the council were in the headlines for giving a £500,000 pension pay-off to their finance chief, Linda Hardie.

She got a retirement deal of £106,000 severance plus £427,000 paid into her pension.

The council were condemned by the public spending watchdog Audit Scotland for allowing Hardie to spend six months at home on her full £127,000-a-year salary before picking up her massive deal.

It was her department who lost £100,000 of taxpayers’ money to fraudster Mangal Singh Dhami, 45, who simply rang up, then sent a bogus email claiming to be from a council supplier.

It's money we have worked for

THE pay announcement yesterday was greeted with joy and relief by women workers.

Some entered their claims back in 2005 and can expect pay backdated as far as 2000.

Jean McFarlane, who worked as a home carer in Rutherglen, near Glasgow, retired in 2009. She is hoping for a settlement refunding her for eight years of low pay.

Jean – pictured below with fellow claimants liz Liddell, left, and linda Thompson, right, said: “It’s been a long battle. I haven’t thought about what I’m getting because I don’t want to spend anything before I have it. I won’t believe it until I see what I’m getting in black and white.

“We couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t pay us when every other council had settled.”

Rose McCann, 66, of Hamilton, who was a dinner lady for 23 years, said: “It’s money I’ve worked for.”

COMMENT: By lawyer Carol Fox

TODAY is the most significant day of my career and it is important we continue to fight to ensure equality becomes a reality for low-paid women.

We are delighted to have reached settlement in this equal pay case against South Lanarkshire Council.

The first claim was lodged in 2005 and, since then, 18 of our claimants have died.

This has been a long- running and arduous battle and we have to pay tribute to the many thousands of women in South Lanarkshire who stood up for their rights.

After a 55-day hearing and six months of detailed negotiations, we are pleased to achieve this positive outcome. While it has taken some time to reach this settlement, South Lanarkshire have done the right thing.

We can only hope other councils in Scotland also bring all equal pay litigation to an end.

Our women are so pleased and relieved that after so many years we have achieved a positive outcome. Going to court and being cross examined was a difficult process for them and I feel so proud we’ve achieved a significant result.

With the help of more determined women, perhaps equal pay will become a reality for future generations.